New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-09-11
CITY TRAGEDY.
WHERE THE PUBLIC Is NOT GENEROUS.
ruE GRRvIous SIGHTS OF BELLEVUE THE HAND


II was Just like the good honest folk who isid inc
foundations Of NewYorks greatness that they snouu
build hospitals before they built prisons Away oaca III
the century, Just before the second war Win orea'
Britain when elderly gentlemen wore Japo'S anu hheo
brooches and young went sparkling In swaiiowais
that ortoa ahova tho waist and fell down below their
hne.s when Madison W IS President and Union Square
almost n wilderness the people OF ewYork sent sur
v.vors mn into the country find suitable place for
hosr,tal A. fresh water POND water lilies then
where the gloomy Tombs now stands and the finishing
touches had not yet been put the roof of the City
HAIL The surveyors did their work well. They chose
site at foot Of East Twentysixthst and In 1911
the cornerstone Of Bellevue Hospital was laid.
whatever the grunbers and the soeheads may say to
the contrary the public is not brute. 1t isl KIND
CHEEKY soul full Of sentiment and sympa
thy aud good will II may sometimes seem to be brute
but only you look it specifically from
the standpoint Of sorehead When you back up
against lamppost telegraph pole in Brosdw ay and
watch II hurrying past you up and down. with never
glance right left its brows fixed aud its eyes set Its
mind intent upon its business TO the complete
cuson Of all else; when you hear the busy jingle OF it's
horsecar bells aid the bustng noises Of its cabs and
carts that along If urged by motor OF blind
greed: when you the sightless beggar knocked
almost of his feet and the wthered, grayhared nag
ostled till her bones ache, then you smile
sardonically. and say with your most superior air.
"what selfish brute the public Isl" You shrug your
shoulders drop nickel In the dirty little girls little tin
CUP which with dirty little monkey and . doleful
hanorgan is the melancholy stock in trade Of dirty
Italian. and complacently reflect upon your own
graciousness of heart But hasty. You forget
with and organization the public acts in aid
ing the If you really want TO see that the
public brute ask the Warden OF Bellevue Hospi-
tai 10 show You through its vast enclosures
His Office Is large. square room with pictures OF
learned doctors all the walls and along them
full Of knives and and queer appliances made for
the purpose OF scrapng ones liver adjusting ones
cratic rib. The Warden sits at big desk, piled high
with papers that never seem to grow less surgeon
enters and says with an air of triumph Well, Warden
got IL out!'
"where IL 2"
Under his morcunalis right in the wall Of his thom
OCULAR pegowotist inch and half to the left OF his
prutaux and least inch further in than ever saw
bullet go beiore!'
Good for you Doctor" says the Warden You did
we'll and nobody could do better"
You instinctivey feel around your stomach and ribs
almost apprehensve lest your own thomogular
pelogowotist should be alng, and cordially agree with
the Warden that who can rambe around among
ones mrricunaes and prutauces must certainly possess
exalted claims to eminence.
-win he liver inquiries the Warden
90 as to that can't say, I'm sure. But I've got the
ball"
SIS this the Warden o. asks welldressed, handsome
young man. He has silverheaded stick in his hand
His smile is very agreeable it dies away under his
brown mustache. His eyes shine, but you wish that
he hadn't taken off his hat When his hat on his ap
pearance easy almost elegant but his head recedes
from the marked by the rim OF his hat and his thin
hair though laborously plastered down. cannot conceal
an ugly red line that suggests narrow escape from
somebody's angry knife.
81 Am the Warden"
MAY speak with you prvatelyf
Certainly; this way, sir"
They retire to a window. The young nan proceeds:
Al clipped piece from the paper TINS morning "aruen
All, yes, here Ii Is. 1t reads:
The body OF a woman, evidently young, was tound
IN the East River yesterday just below BlackwelIs
Island. 1t was taken to the Morgue. Decomposition
already set and it was apparent that the unort
innate woman had been several days In the water Her
features could not be recognized. The woman wore
fine bingham DRESS French CATERS and embroidered
undercothing marked G." On her left hand she wore
two rings plain and the other set with an opal ana
inscribed Her friends relatives who can prove THIS
property secure the body
Ct think perhaps 1 know the unhappy woman, " ar
den" continued the young man.
Suppose you step down to the morgue, sir"
~Um well, pardon me-. Warden, but hate morgues.
Can't you do the special favor Of sending for the
person who keeps the recordsw
The records brought aud the man was asked 70
describe the rings
@The plain ring" he said. is thin and worn and very
yellow. The other, much lighter in color. has two
bands. On the lower one Is inscribed kate'
Christmas, 1888 The 'G's' on her underoiothihs
are all in German text"
That's right, sir. You know the ladyi'
She was my WIFE gave her the opal year ago.
Two months afterward she eloped with rich manu-
facturer, and this is the end 1t is painful
He touched his silk handkerchief to his eyes, which
really were dewy with sympathy. and he might nave
been thought much but for the smiles that
chased each other across his lips and under lis brown
mustache.
She quite young. too. for such experiences on
twenty-six 1t ptul when the young are iLisiei
into great faults. I'm tecoming quite superStuous
a,,,nr this opal. 1t to friend OF mine some
wears ago In California and he was shot few weeks
at~r The ring wa, returned 10 me and gave IL 10
sia4y She wasted away with fever enc ieis i''io
bog and thought h ought to possess 1t as memen'o
OF his mother but little beggar no sooner got IL th
he died I'm a spasm My wife then saw 1t and took
fancy IN IL and foolishly gave her. Really. IL
had an enemy could wish him worse fate than TO
own this opal But I have detained you too long
Warden. Good morning !"
sOue moment please. The body-what shall be done
with itf"
20. yes, to be sure the body. Well will send for II
in an hour"
Suddenly gong In O little room back OF the wardenf
desk strikes twenty quick beats and then sounds te
granite message of alarm. clerk takes down the can
and touches an electric bell that rings In the stables neal
nv The nervous stamping Of horses Is heard througl
the omen window. and almost before you understand
what IL means an ambulance whizzes past out the gs
and away Its warning bell strokes die out as IL tears
along, few minutes more they fai again upon
the ear rbev grow louder, n heavier gong than any
peals forth from gate, announcing the arrva
Of case another bell sounds in the reception ONCE be
low summonng the physicians in charge the Ambulance
draws up to the curb and tendery very tendery th'
orderes lift ont couch whereon, bleeding ana unoon
scious lies the body of shot In the head twelve
thousand times q year the ambulances drive up
that door and deposit their human freight. victims
misfortune and passion and crime. And in half dozei
other hospitals all over the city In dozen more sup
ported by private beraty, in countless homes ana asy
luns tho mercfu work of comfort and healing goes Oh
eysrv day. Who says che public Ia a beasts